Like Sheep
by Afrika1995
Summary: Batman takes on an apprentice who carries more baggage than he thought. After rescuing her from doing something that would have gotten her arrested, she agrees to join him. Too bad the Joker wants her too. "People are like sheep...They don't think."
1. Chapter 1

Like Sheep

Chapter One

"What's her name?"

"Amber, I think."

"You think?"

"No one calls her that here."

"What do they call her?"

A smile slowly spread across his face. "Elefanti."

"Ele-_what?_"

"Elefanti. It's a nickname."

"But-_why?_"

He shrugged. "She's really good with elephants. It's like she speaks their language or something."

She crossed her arms over her ample chest. "Elephants don't have a language, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel chuckled and slipped an arm around Christine's waist, pulling her closer. They stood

beneath the opening in the big top's entrance, facing the ring where all the acts took place. The

circus was empty, since it was Sunday in Gotham City. The workers then mingled around on

their many breaks, some leading animals toward their prospective cages.

Christine turned away from Nathaniel and headed away from the tent. "I don't know how I feel

about this Amber girl," she sniffed. "I don't like you being so interested in her."

Nathaniel smiled, and silently thanked his stars that he had had so much experience with

women: figuring out how to make this one happy would be a piece of cake.

"She's just a coworker; nothing special," he shrugged and draped his arm over Christine's

shoulders. She relaxed slightly, but still gave him a disbelieving glare.

"Is she pretty?" she demanded.

"Is she-huh?" Nathaniel asked, confused. He hadn't been expecting that question. Something

more along the lines of 'Well I guess so…' as she, hopefully, backed off. Apparently she had no

plans to do so.

"I said 'Is she pretty?'," Christine asked again.

Nathaniel had to think for a minute. He could tell that was not the response his date wanted,

but he truly had to consider it. He hadn't thought of Elefanti that way. But she _was_ pretty, he

figured. She had light blonde hair and gentle blue eyes. And she was good with the animals. It

made him wonder why on earth she had chosen to come work for Petrofsky's Wonder Circus. It

was one of the worst circuses Nathaniel had ever seen, having worked in a circus for most of his

life, and the animals were often mistreated. The workers too, who then turned around and

abused the animals more so they didn't feel like they were at the bottom of the food chain.

Nathaniel never hurt the animals, having been taught by his father to respect all forms of life (all

though, ironically enough, he had been taught by his grandfather to be a dead-shot). He figured

that Elefanti was the same way.

"Nathaniel!" Christine exclaimed angrily, throwing his arm off her. "Answer me!"

He ran a hand through his dark brown hair and gave her an annoyed glance. "Yeah she's pretty.

So?"

"Do you like her?" was the next demand.

"Obviously not, since I'm here with you," Nathaniel shot back. "Look, can we just forget about

her? I want to spend time with you and enjoy our date."

"It would have been a better date if the circus was actually open," Christine muttered but

allowed Nathaniel to pull her close again.

They walked around the perimeter of the circus, just reaching where the "freak-show"

attractions were.

"What about the Bearded Lady?" Christine asked, squinting at a faded sign. "Is she here?"

Nathaniel's brown eyes sparkled. "You'll just have to come next week and see for yourself won't

you?"

Christine smiled at him coyly. "Oh will I?"

Nathaniel was about to say something else when she pulled him forward and backed him into

the side of the Bearded Lady's building. Nathaniel grinned openly as Christine leaned forward

and pressed her lips against his. He was completely prepared to take it slow with her, but she

had other ideas. She kissed him passionately and he kissed her back, emitting a surprised grunt

when she began to furiously rub against the front of his pants.

Hell no.

Sure, Nathaniel wasn't averse to the idea of fucking her, but not at a damn circus. Especially not

this circus. Although the idea was open to explore for kinky ideas for a rainy day, he was not

interested in exploring them now. But as he soon found out, Christine wasn't exactly looking for

sex at a circus either.

She broke away from Nathaniel and panted heavily. Seeing his dazed look, she gently stroked his

face in a seductive manner.

"How about we go back to my place?" she suggested in a low purr. "My parents are out of town

for the day. We could open up a bottle of champagne….." she trailed off but her intentions were

evident.

Nathaniel didn't know how to reply. Sure he wanted to have sex with her, but he didn't think he

could just leave work. And he wasn't willing to put his job in jeopardy for a girl on their first

date. However, as he was about to open his mouth, he heard something. He turned and looked

around Christine, who was getting impatient waiting for his answer, and saw a commotion at

the circus gates. Christine followed his gaze and saw it too.

There was a large crowd at the entrance gates waving picket signs and shouting, but they were

too far away to make out their signs or their shouts. Nathaniel knew who they were regardless.

He could see some circus workers going out to the crowd to try to get them to disperse.

"Wait here," Nathaniel told Christine.

"Nathaniel!" she hissed as a means of protest.

Nathaniel ignored her and jogged over to where the groups were gathered, one of the protestors

and one being the workers.

"What's going on?" Nathaniel asked as he approached. Someone turned around and he was

relieved to see it was Peter, one of his fellow trainers.

"Just some eco freaks again," he said with obvious distaste. "Demanding we release the animals

_again._"

"Release them into the city?" Nathaniel said with some humor. "Seems kind of like a bad idea to

me."

Peter shook his head. "Damn hippies. They have _no idea_ what it's like to work with some of the

most dangerous animals in the world, and they're coming after _us_ when we try to control them?

They don't understand a _damn thing_."

Nathaniel looked at Peter with a slight frown. "Still, violence isn't the answer. Especially not

towards innocent animals."

Peter didn't hear him or was ignoring him, saying quietly to himself, "Who knows, maybe the

mob will sic the Joker on 'em…."

The protestors' shouting got louder and they waved their signs more vigorously at the workers

when they were asked to leave.

"We have every right to be here!" one guy with white dreds yelled angrily.

"Leave now or I'm calling the police!" a worker snarled.

"This is a peaceful protest!" another cried.

Nathaniel dropped his head. "This is getting nowhere. And the police won't come for such a mild

disturbance. They're probably all out looking for the Joker…."

Peter wasn't listening. He had balled his fists and was slowly turning red with anger, making his

white blonde hair stick out even more.

The brunette, realizing there was nothing he could do to help the situation, decided to go back

to Christine. She was still standing by the Bearded Lady attraction, looking impatient and

scared.

"What's happening?" she demanded.

"Just some protestors," Nathaniel answered vaguely. "We're going to get out of here in a sec, I

just have to find Fanti to ask her to take over my shift…."

Without waiting for a response, Nathaniel headed for the big top. He came in through the main

entrance, then veered off to the left towards a much smaller opening that led to where most of

the animals were kept. The elephants were kept in a separate tent with the horses and the only

male lion, but Nathaniel had a feeling he'd find Amber in here instead.

Sure enough, he saw the blonde, decked out in her hemp pants that pooled around her ankles

and her skin tight purple shirt, and her simple green semi jacket, replenishing the monkeys'

water supply.

"Hey El," Nathaniel greeted fondly. He smiled when he noticed the electric green headphones

trailing down the girl's body from her ears right into her left pocket. He approached her

cautiously and tapped her on the shoulder. He quickly ducked as her hand came wildly flying

towards his head in a knee-jerk reaction. He saw the light shine on her silver bracelet with

charms in the shape of elephants as it flew past his ear.

"Whoa, whoa!" he yelled, grabbing her quickly. "El, it's just me!"

The girl stilled and hurriedly yanked her headphones out of her ears. "Jesus Nathaniel, you

scared the shit out of me!"

"I hadn't noticed," he said, smiling dryly.

Amber calmed down as well, a gentle expression coming into her soft blue eyes. It was that look

that Nathaniel loved so much. It reminded him that there were some good people left in this

city.

"I've always been pretty jumpy," she explained with a shrug. "So what's up?"

Nathaniel watched as she went back to taking care of the monkeys before answering her. "Er,

would you mind covering my shift later tonight? And if the boss asks, tell him it was some sort

of family emergency…."

She paused and turned a questioning eye on him. "Why?"

Nathaniel suddenly felt bashful, and uncomfortable now that Christine had forced him to

contemplate Amber's beauty. He didn't exactly want to explain that he was skipping his job to

go bang some girl on their first date.

But before he had the chance to say something, attempt to convince Amber to do him this favor,

Christine walked into the animals' quarters while pinching her nose.

"It smells awful in here," she whined. "Nathaniel, are you almost ready to go? Did you clear

things up with that _Amber girl?_"

Nathaniel and Amber could both detect the distaste in Christine's voice; but Amber took up a

polite, gracious smile and came toward Christine.

"Oh it's all good to go. Just have him back by eight, Miss….?"

Christine tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Christine Sutcher."

"Okay. Just have him back by eight Miss _Slut_cher."

Nathaniel choked on his laugh, happy that Christine didn't notice Amber's little insult.

"Yeah, whatever," Christine sniffed, grabbing Nathaniel's hand and pulling him from the tent.

"Thanks El!" Nathaniel called over his shoulder.

Amber just waved him off and rolled her eyes.

"How's that, guys?" she asked the monkeys as they all scrambled forward to grab the food she

offered them in the palm of her hands. She giggled as she felt them take the small scraps, but

frowned as she felt her phone vibrate. Amber wiped her hands on her pants and dug in her

pocket for her cell phone.  
><em><br>Update?_ The text read.  
><em><br>Fine so far, _Amber texted back. She glanced over her shoulder nervously to make sure no one was

watching her.__

_Do they suspect anything?_

_No._

_Good._

_When will you be ready to move in?_

_Soon. Very soon._

Amber sighed and deleted the messages before closing her phone and shoved it back into her

pocket.


	2. Chapter 2

Like Sheep

Chapter Two

It was time to get ready for the day, and the circus opened at two o'clock. Nathaniel arrived

extra early so he didn't burden Amber any more than he already had the day before on his "date"

with Christine. And if he knew Amber as well as he thought he did, he was positive she would

already be at work preparing the elephants for their big performance.

The circus was abuzz with animal noises when Nathaniel walked through the back gates. He

smiled: he was happy to be back at the circus after his wild night with Amber. God that girl was

a good fuck. Nathaniel wasn't sure if he was going to see her again, other than casual sex, but

_damn._ She was demanding and hot and spoiled and expected nothing less than perfection, but

Nathaniel was well equipped to fulfill her needs.

Despite his night with Christine, Nathaniel was feeling fully rested and eager to get back to

work. And heaven knows Amber was going to want something in return for covering for him, so

he was prepared to accept her terms.

When he found her in the big top handling Bessie, the "matriarch" of the awkward herd, he

approached her with cautious steps.

"I can hear you, you know," she chuckled. "Don't worry: my headphones are out."

"Oh so you're not going to take another swing at me?" Nathaniel teased.

"Not unless you get annoying," Amber smirked.

Nathaniel pretended to scowl. "Ha-ha very funny Elefanti."

"Oh you know you love it. So what's up?"

He peered at her. He seriously needed to stop staring, but he couldn't help it. Seeing Amber was

like a breath of fresh air in Gotham City. Between the mob, who they both unfortunately

worked for, and corrupt cops, it seemed like no one was honest any more. Amber reminded him,

always, that there was still hope.

"So how was your date?"

Nathaniel grinned widely. "It was fucking fantastic."

"She's that good of a lay?"

"Ooooohhhhhhhh yeah. If you could only have seen her-,"

Amber glared at him. "You really have no problem talking about your sex life do you?"

"Not really," he smirked.

She shook her head and went back to rubbing down Bessie. Bessie's wise brown eyes looked at

Nathaniel and he felt compelled to reach a hand out and stroke her trunk. She gave a low

rumbling sound and moved her trunk slightly to rest the tip just above Nathaniel's right

shoulder, sniffing him.

"How have they been? Any better?" he inquired quietly.

Amber froze momentarily before returning to her work with a breathless exhale. "The baby

seems to be fine, but Bessie and a few others have been stressed lately. They've started swaying

their heads again, which, as you know, is a sign of insanity brought on by confinement."

Nathaniel sighed heavily. "I wish there was something we could do for them. For all the

animals."

Amber was quiet a moment. "This is your job," she finally said.

"It's your job too."

She didn't say anything farther: she picked up her bucket and her scrubbing tools and headed for

the supplies room that was located in the far left corner of the main animal quarters with the

monkeys. Nathaniel stayed behind with Bessie as he continued to stroke her softly.

In the main animal quarters Amber quickly put the scrubbing utensils back into the closet and

went outside to dump the bucket out. She still had at least seven elephants to wash, assuming

she wouldn't have to re-wash them, but she liked to use fresh water for each of them and she got

fresh scrubbing sand. They always ran out of the sand faster than Petrofsky liked, so she hid it

from him by buying the sand herself right out of her paycheck.

Amber went back into the quarters and her eyes widened when she saw Peter standing by the

supplies closet, a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets.

"Peter…." Amber began. "Uh, what's up?"

"Just wanted to see how you were doing," the other blonde replied easily. "So how have you

been?"

"Pretty good. And yourself?" Amber asked.

"Good, good, despite what those eco-freaks wish," Peter grinned.

Amber forced a smile and went around him to get the bag of scrubbing sand.

It was at that moment Amber's cell phone vibrated. Her pupils dilated and her blood ran cold.

Luckily Peter didn't seem to have noticed, as he was studying the macaw's cage with some

distaste. Amber frequently wondered why he had even chosen to work at a circus since his

disgust with animals was evident.

"Have you heard?" Peter said suddenly.

Amber started. "Heard what?"

"Another person's been killed by the Joker," he elaborated. He wasn't looking at her but rather

staring off into the space just to the right of her.

"Yes. I have heard."

"It's a pity the Batman hasn't turned himself in," Peter commented dryly.

"Do you seriously think that'd stop the Joker from killing people?"

"If the Batman turned himself in he'd have something to lure the joker in with: his true identity.

And once the Joker goes looking for whoever Batman really is, the police could capture him.

Batman would be put in jail, obviously, but then again….It's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make. At

least the Joker would be gone."

Amber took a deep breath, trying to control her annoyance. "Aren't you a fan of the Joker's? He

wouldn't stop killing people even if Batman did turn himself in. The Joker would have no reason

to stop."

Peter looked amused. He came toward her and folded his arms.

"I'm not a fan," he said quietly. "I just have an affinity for the theatrical."

"His theatrics are sick," Amber snarled, turning away. With a yelp she tripped over a misplaced

crate and fell on her arm. She hissed in pain and tried to push herself up. She felt Peter gripping

her and pulling her upward. They looked up at the sound of footsteps running their way.

"What happened?" Nathaniel demanded as he trotted into the main quarters.

"I tripped, it's not a big deal," Amber groaned.

"Should I get the doctor?" Nathaniel huffed.

"She'll be fine," Peter said.

Nathaniel's eyes darted to Peter and then back to Amber. "El?"

"I'm okay," she sighed and got to her feet. She winced as she straightened up but was eager to get

away from Peter. He gave her the creeps sometimes.

"Come on," she muttered to Nathaniel and limped toward the exit. He picked up the bucket and

the sand, and then followed her through to the big top with a thrown glance over his shoulder

at Peter.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He checked his watch and saw something

gleaming out of the corner of his eye.

It was Amber's phone.

He frowned and bent down to examine it. It was a basic pre-paid cell phone with a little zebra-

and-elephant charm hanging from a little nook on the right side of the phone.

With a curious eye, Peter pressed a button on the dial-pad and watched the screen light up.

Displayed clearly was a message: "New Message from MAX".

With a shrug Peter opened the message and read it quickly. It said:  
><em><br>We move in on Wednesday._

"What the hell?" Peter murmured before pocketing the cell phone. He'd give it to Amber later, he

reasoned, as he headed off to take care of his chores.

Later that evening Amber was leading the lead acrobat's white mare back to the stable when she

suddenly realized her phone was no longer in her pocket. She had completely forgotten about it

in all the hustle of maintaining the circus' small herd of elephants. A panic rose up deep in her

chest and she tried to remember when she had last seen it.  
><em><br>I was getting the sand…..and then Peter came in…..  
><em>  
>Amber froze. She discovered that she must have dropped it when she fell. She quickly led the<p>

mare to the stable and tucked her safely in, giving her an extra sugar cube as her way of saying

"good job", and nearly ran back to the main animal quarters. She frantically searched the area

where she had landed but didn't see her phone anywhere.

"Shit," she snarled.

Next she ran to catch up to Nathaniel before he left for the day, and she discovered that he had

no intention of leaving since there was a baby monkey sleeping in his arms as he carried it to its

mother. She flushed with embarrassment as she understood that her urgency to get to her friend

before he left was unneeded.

"El? Are you okay?" Nathaniel asked worriedly.

Amber frowned. She had been noticing throughout the day that Nathaniel had been

uncharacteristically soft with her, and she had caught him staring at her a few times. She wasn't

sure what had gotten into him, but she pushed that aside for the moment.

"My phone's missing," she told him.

"Well, did you check-,"

I've checked everywhere it could be," Amber rasped. "And I still can't find it."

Nathaniel looked a little surprised at the panic in her voice, but didn't comment on it,

thankfully.

"Let me go put this little guy away and we can go check out the lost-and-found, okay?"

Amber nodded, words failing her. She didn't want to contemplate what would happen if

someone like Peter, or the ringmaster, got a hold of-

Wait. She hadn't asked Peter, and he had been with her in the main quarters….

Whirling around, she saw Nathaniel heading quickly toward the main animal quarters, but she

couldn't wait for him. It was urgent she get her phone back in case she received a message

someone working at the circus could figure out.

Amber headed towards Peter's usual haunt: the fire-circle where some of the clowns and the

ringmaster gathered to complain about the animals they worked with and drink their salaries

away. She hated going there. The smell of alcohol was suffocating and the members of the circle

got a little crass whenever Amber approached them, but if Peter knew where her phone was, it'd

be worth it.

Sure enough, Amber was able to make out Peter's white hair by the light of the fire as she came

closer. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest and she considered turning back the way

she came when several people began watching her. But she couldn't risk being found out. After it

was all over, she didn't care who knew, but it wouldn't be good for her mission to be stopped

prematurely.

"Peter," Amber hissed. "Can I talk to you?"

The other blonde looked up. "Sure."

She led him away before the trademark cat-calls could start. When they were a good distance

away from the fire, Amber put her deep blue eyes, wide with barely-controlled panic, on him.

"Have you seen my phone?" she blurted out.

Peter frowned. "Hmmm? Oh your phone? Yeah…I picked it up in the main quarters. I forgot I

even had it."

He pulled Amber's phone out of his pocket and gently handed it over; but there was still a frown

on his face.

"Oh thank god!" Amber breathed. "Thank you so much Peter!"

"You're welcome…..and you got a message from Max. I kind of read it."

Amber could have fainted. "Why?"

Peter thought quickly. "It was open when I picked it up, the message I mean. Sorry," he lied.

"It's…okay. I've got to go. Thanks a lot Peter."

He finally smiled at her before going back to the fire circle.

Amber made her way back to the employee parking, her breathing unstable and a headache was

starting to form behind her left eye.

Max had texted her….and Peter had seen it.

"Hey! Hey, AMBER!"

She jumped and spun around.

Nathaniel was running toward her, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "I was looking for you everywhere! I thought you needed

help finding your phone?"

"I-uh, I found it. Peter had it."

"You could have told me you were going to find him!"

"S-sorry," Amber stuttered.

Nathaniel exhaled slowly. "It's okay. Are you, um, heading home now?"

She nodded vigorously and started toward her car again.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Nathaniel called. He was a little worried about how Amber

was acting: she seemed a little off.

Amber slid into her car on the driver's side and checked the message Max had sent her. Her

hands were shaking as she read the short script, and then exhaled a sigh of relief. There wasn't a

lot that could go wrong in two days, and she highly doubted Peter knew anything that would

jeopardize whatever Max had planned for Wednesday. While there was a chance Peter would

get wise to her actions, he wouldn't have enough time to actually do anything.

As Amber headed home, she heard Peter's voice in her head:  
><em><br>"I have an affinity for the theatrical."_


	3. Chapter 3

Like Sheep

A/N: Sorry this update has taken so long, but I hope this makes up for it.

Chapter Three

Amber held her breath, checked her clock on her phone, and steeled her resolve once more. It

was Wednesday: in less than twelve hours her mission would be complete. Then she could leave

this god-forsaken place.

The blonde tucked a strand of her short hair behind her ear and headed back to secure the

saddles on the riding ponies that circus-goers could ride for ten dollars each. Amber knew the

ride was a rip-off. The ride consisted of two laps around the small enclosure at a snail's pace,

while an unenthusiastic circus employee supervised the riders for their own "safety". Everyone

knew these animals had been broken a long time ago and were of danger to no one so the

precautions were more useless than the existence.

After checking on the ponies, Amber's ears pricked as she heard the first wave of customers

pouring in the front gates, their laughter slightly ominous to her fragile nerves. She licked her

lips nervously and hurried to find Nathaniel. They were both in charge of taking the baby

elephant out and walking him around the ring at three different times throughout the show. The

baby was a distraction while the performers scrambled to get their next act together, and the

crowd loved him.

Nathaniel was in the main animal quarters, with his shirt off. Amber skidded to a stop, a blush

forming on her round cheeks.

"S-sorry," she stuttered and made to leave.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm just getting into my costume. You don't have to go anywhere," Nathaniel

called over his shoulder.

Amber hesitated in the doorway before finally stepping inside the tent. She averted her eyes and

sat down on a stack of crates.

Nathaniel turned to face her as he tugged his shirt over his abdomen. "Aren't you going to get

dressed?" he asked.

The blonde started, staring at him dumbly for a moment, before she came to her senses.

"Oh….yeah, I just….forgot."

He frowned. "Hey are you okay? You seem a little strange today."

"I….didn't sleep well last night. Guess I must be a little tired."

Nathaniel frowned at her and tossed her the skimpy dress she was required to wear during

performances. "You better get this on. The first crowd has already started filling out the seats,"

he said quietly.

Amber nodded as she tried to get a grip on her emotions. "I know. I heard them coming in."

She headed out to go change in the performers' trailer, shaking her head as she went.

"It's almost over," she told herself.

"Having trouble?"

Amber whirled around. Peter came towards her, wearing his simple workers clothes and his

bull-hook strapped to his jeans, a sandwich in his hand.

"Hey," he smiled. "You look a little nervous."

"Not feeling well," she mumbled. She needed to leave: she didn't trust herself around this psycho

maniac.

He offered her the sandwich. "It's barbeque pork."

Amber couldn't help herself: her nose wrinkled. "Uh, no thanks."

"It tastes real good," Peter tempted.

"No. Thank. You."

His smile faded, and he looked at her appraisingly. "I guess you wouldn't want to eat if you're

not feeling well," he said finally. But there was a sudden sense of recognition in his eyes that

made Amber's heart beat faster and her hands go cold.

"I have to go get changed," she quickly said. "See you later."

"Be seeing you…Elefanti."

Amber almost stopped. Peter never called her that. _Never_. And she didn't like the way he said

her nickname: it frightened her.

After she had changed, her fingers failing to clasp the buttons even after three tries (fourth

time's the charm), Amber reemerged from the dressing room and trotted towards the elephant

tent. Her dress barely reached her mid-thigh and there was a circle cut out of the bosom of her

dress that exposed much of her breasts. It made her feel even more self-conscious, but she was

thankful it at least covered a good fraction of her collar bone. Nathaniel was already there,

hooking the baby elephant up to its tether. He smiled at Amber, who returned the smile.

"You ready?" he asked her.

She nodded in affirmation. She plastered a smile on her face and followed Nathaniel, who was

leading the baby, toward the big top. They waited outside the flap for five-minutes before

the crowd's applause and roars reached their ears. They took that as their cue to enter the show.

The bright lights blinded Amber momentarily, but she kept the fake smile on her face as she

walked around the ring with Nathaniel and the baby. They exited the ring shortly after, nearly

colliding with Bonnie-and-her-dancing-poodles. Amber breathed a sigh of relief when they

reached the sanctum of the animal quarters.

"Good Sudesh," Nathaniel cooed. "That's a good boy."

"What did you just call him?" Amber said, disbelief in her voice.

"Sudesh," Nathaniel grinned. "It means "strong" in Indian. I figured since he didn't have a name

yet, I'd name him myself."

"It's cute," Amber smiled. "Let's take _Sudesh_ back to his mommy."

Nathaniel's smile got wider.

The rest of the day passed in much the same way, although for Amber it passed agonizingly

slowly. She was almost faint with anxiety, and whenever she saw Peter it increased tenfold. She

couldn't help worrying that he knew more than he was supposed to. That look he had given her

earlier had set her hair on edge and she found she couldn't relax. Despite her anxiety she put on a

brave face and suffered through the rest of the day. As the first show ended, and the crowd got

lost in the throng of the next incoming group of specters, Amber felt her weariness creeping up

on her. She was so tired that it was difficult to remember that she would need her energy in the

next few hours when her mission would end. It had taken her months to get all the necessary

information, the correct video clips, that would eventually incriminate the workers in the circus.

Those bastards were going down for animal cruelty. And Amber would be there to watch.

Max, her friend from her time in high school, was the leader of the group of radical animal

activists, and had offered Amber a chance to help the animals she had been fascinated with since

she had been a child, the elephants…..before her father had disappeared. It had been one of the

last things Amber had done with her father: they had gone to the circus and he had asked the

ringmaster, an old college buddy, to allow them to ride the only male Asian elephant the circus

owned. It had been different than what Amber experienced now at Petrofsky's circus, and that

was because her father's friend hadn't abused his animals.

One month after their day at the circus, Amber's father disappeared. He suddenly moved out of

the house he had been living in and left for Mexico. All Amber remembered of the incident was

that the night before her father went away, her parents had argued for hours, and when the

yelling was finally over, Mr. Riley crept into his only daughter's bedroom.

"_Amber," he whispered._

_She stirred from her bed, removing the pillow she had been clutching over her ears._

_"Amber," Mr. Riley said again. "Why were you hiding?"_

_"I don't like yelling," Amber replied._

_He gave her a sad smile. "Neither do I. I love you, very much."_

_"I love you too, Daddy."_

_And with that he stood and gave her a small, sweet kiss on the forehead. He quickly left the room, and Amber never _

_saw him again._

Amber never had a desire to see her father again, as she didn't really remember him, and her

mother never spoke of him. It had been quiet growing up, with no excitement. Until Max came

along. Amber and Max immediately became friends, and shortly after he asked her to join his

organization. She had accepted, and soon rose through the ranks to start going on undercover

missions to expose cruelty to animals.

Just as she was doing at Petrofsky's circus.

Amber was so nervous that day that she didn't eat anything as she awaited Max's arrival, and

she was feeling weak by the third show. She obediently walked around the ring, a forced smile

on her face, with Nathaniel and Sudesh. Sudesh trotted around like a young pony, throwing his

uncoordinated trunk up in the air and giving weak trumpets every now and then. The audience

applause seared Amber's eardrums. She walked quickly back out of the ring.

"Hey, you alright?" Nathaniel called.

"Yeah," she yelled back. "I'm going to go get some water."

She headed towards the main gate where the drinking fountain was located. She glanced over

her shoulder into the blackness of the night but kept going.

Amber reached the fountain and bent her head to get a drink.

"Amber," came a whisper.

She gave a small yelp and whirled around, clutching her chest.

"Victoria?"

"Hey," the pink-haired girl grinned. "Are you gonna let me in or what?"

Victoria was on the other side of the padlocked gate, which was locked during each performance

so people couldn't sneak in and vandalize the property, as some kids were known to do.

"Uh, sure," Amber stuttered. "Where's Max?"

Victoria shrugged. "Eh, he got arrested last night."

Amber didn't have the chance to find out why because soon Victoria was signaling more people

to come through the gate. There was soon a group of twenty people standing around Amber and

Victoria, looking to the blonde for instructions.

"So, what's the deal?" Victoria questioned brightly.

Amber blanched. Her friend was just too casual about what they were about to do.

"There's ten minutes till the next act begins. There's a five minute intermission time for the

performers to get their stuff together: you should be able to start getting the animals-,"

"We can't," one guy piped up.

"Why?" Amber asked.

"The police aren't here yet," Victoria said quietly. "They got held up downtown. They'll be here

in about thirty minutes."

"Well then what are we going to do till then?" Amber sighed.

Victoria grinned deviously. "Oh….we have a few ideas."

Amber shook her head. "Whatever. Just- I'll show you to the animal quarters, but you'll have to

hide."

The group followed her as she trotted across the lot towards the main animal quarters, and next

to it, the elephant tent. Soon after she showed them a place they could hide, sandwiched

together between the Bearded Lady's caravan and the Alligator Man's quarters, and split them

up into groups. Victoria, however, followed Amber anyway.

"What're you doing?" Amber asked warily.

"Max told me to make sure you were okay. This is your first undercover op, and people get a

little nasty when things go down. Trust me on this: you should have seen how berserk people

went when they realized I was undercover at the rodeo…."

Amber sighed again. "Look, you can't follow me around, they know you don't work here-,"

"Amber?"

The blonde froze. She turned her head and saw Peter standing behind her, a bewildered

expression on his face.

"Hi, Peter," Amber said breathlessly. She saw with dismay that he took a few strides closer.

"Who's this?" he asked suspiciously.

Amber couldn't think straight. She was paralyzed with fear; luckily, Victoria was one step ahead

of her.

"Hi, I'm Victoria," she smiled, putting her hand out for Peter to shake. After he did, she slipped

her arm around Amber's waist. "I'm Amber's girlfriend," Victoria continued. "I just wanted to

stop by and see her. Is that okay?"

Peter's nose was wrinkled as he regarded Victoria, after he thought her to be a lesbian. His eyes

darted to Amber disbelievingly, before he answered Victoria.

"We typically don't allow visitors," Peter said quietly.

Victoria didn't miss a beat. "I'll leave soon, I promise. I just wanted to see her before…I went out

of town tomorrow."

Peter nodded at them, and then addressed Amber. "Make it quick," he said icily.

Amber gave some sort of verbal reply, and when Peter walked away, it was Victoria's arm

around her waist that kept her upright.

"I need to get out of here," Amber rasped. "I think he knows, he saw one of my text messages,

and-and-,"

"Amber, calm down," Victoria said gently. "It's almost over, and then you never have to see these

people again. We'll go somewhere, anywhere, for the weekend and just relax, I promise. You just

need to keep it together for a few more hours."

Amber looked up at her dear friend with watery eyes. "I just…..don't want anything to happen."

"Nothing's going to happen," Victoria promised with a gentle smile. "Trust me."

The blonde was quiet for a moment and then said, "There's three minutes till the intermission."

Victoria looked around her. "Okay, we, uh, we need a megaphone."

One of the boys from Victoria's group stepped forward from his hiding place. "I think there's one

in that tent over there, the one with the monkeys."

"Whatever you're going to do, do it quick," Amber ordered.

She watched them head off toward the big top with a swiftness in their step.

"Stay hidden," the blonde warned the rest of the group before going to gather her things from the

main animal quarters. She knew that after things went down she wouldn't have time to run

back and get her bag.

But as she began to start stuffing her oversized T-shirts and her books on animal psychology,

Nathaniel ran to her, breathless and confused.

"Nathaniel, what is it?" Amber asked.

"You've got to come see this," he rasped. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the big top.

Dread filled Amber: she had a feeling Victoria was behind this.

"…..is cruel and inhumane. These animals deserve a better life than one spent in chains and fear!

Petrofsky's Wonder Circus needs to be shut down, and the animals be taken to sanctuaries!"

Amber couldn't believe what Victoria was doing. The pink-haired menace stood in the middle of

the ring, the megaphone in her hand, with a few of her followers as she addressed the crowd.

Amber shook her head in disbelief. Her eyes roamed the audience, trying to catch their reactions,

and caught a few of them looking absolutely terrified; furious; shocked; and a few looked

amused.

Amber turned away. "I can't be here right now," she muttered to no one in particular. Nathaniel

gave her a strange look.

"El, what's going on?" he asked.

"You don't need to know," she told him before quickly leaving the big top. She looked to her

right and saw the flashing lights of police cars. She quickened her step to the main animal

quarters to get her bag. Her group of animal activists were heading toward the gate to let the

police in, which meant they would soon be able to start rescuing the animals. She got the sudden

urge to go see the elephants one last time.

Amber grabbed her bag and sprinted over to the elephant tent, glancing furtively over her

shoulder as she went and her skirt billowing. She didn't have a lot of time before the elephants

would have to be moved, or before someone from the circus caught her.

She entered the tent and looked around, sniffing the air. It seemed that no one had bothered to

clean the elephants' stables since the day before and the stench was horrible. She was glad that

they were going to be getting a new, better home. All of them.

She put down her bag and walked further into the room. She gave a yelp as something hard, and

solid, hit her back, and sent her sprawling onto the floor.

"Hello, Elefanti," a voice hissed. 


	4. Chapter 4

Like Sheep

A/N: This is a very special thanks to my best friend EVER for helping me with life in general; being my soon-to-be cofounder of our club at school; and especially with helping me write my stories and giving me great ideas. Without her, I seriously wouldn't have these stories posted. At all. So all the people who love my stories….yeah, you have Morgan to thank.

Chapter Four

Amber groaned, rolling to her side and peering up at her assailant.

Peter's malicious blue eyes glared down at her, his face red with fury. He held a bat in his hand

and his bull-hook gleamed in the light from the tent's lamps.

"Peter…" Amber said, her eyes wide. "What are you doing?"

While his face could not hide his emotions, his voice was calm, "I should have known, really. It

seems so obvious now…. I should have realized you were one of those _freaks. _Did you honestly

think that once your _girlfriend_ pulled her little stunt I wouldn't figure you out?"

"You were there?" 

"I arrived just in time to see your freak show."

"We're not freaks," Amber said bravely. "We just have souls. Unlike _you._"

Peter sneered at her before surging forward and grabbing her by her hair and yanking her

upward. Amber screamed in agony and clutched at his hands, trying to get him to release her

from his grip.

"Peter! Stop!" she howled.

He ignored her and threw her against the wall. She slumped against it slightly with her back to

Peter and hurriedly looked over her shoulder at him.

"After all this circus has done for you," Peter continued, his anger beginning to show. "Everyone

loved you, you know that? And all the while you've been a sneaky, conniving _bitch_."

"And you've been a heartless monster!" Amber screamed.

He shoved her face into the wall and pressed himself against her. She forced the whimper that

threatened to escape her throat back down and tried to remain calm.

"Don't…..test….me, _Elefanti,_" Peter growled.

A shiver ran through her at the way he said her nickname, just as it had earlier that day. He let

her go, moving backwards, and she fell backwards.

"Just tell me why, Amber. Why the hell do you value them more than us?" Peter shouted,

pointing his hand towards the elephants. Amber could see the bat laying a few feet away: Peter

must have dropped it when he grabbed her by her hair. She lunged for it in a desperate attempt

to protect herself. She had almost reached it when Peter's foot came up and kicked her in the

ribs, hard. Amber wheezed and clutched her side, halting her movements.

"W-w-why are you doing this?" Amber gasped around the searing pain in her chest. _Please, please, _

_someone, come,_ she thought desperately. She hoped that Victoria, or Nathaniel, would come

looking for her and stop Peter before he ended up seriously hurting her.

He looked at her with a hard glint in his eyes. A slow, evil smile slowly spread across his face.

"I have an affinity for the theatrical, remember?"

Amber watched him warily as he came toward her again. Peter gripped her upper arm and

pulled her up again, and threw her across the room. The elephants shifted their feet and began

some low rumbling.

"Shut up!" Peter roared.

Amber looked up at him through pain-filled eyes. Sudesh broke away from his mother and

charged at Peter, giving an awkward trumpet. Peter looked at the baby with disgust and got out

his bull-hook. He struck Sudesh across the face and was getting ready for another swing,

ignoring Sudesh's pained whine. Amber could see blood drip from the cut on the baby's face, and

without considering the situation, threw herself at Peter.

"Leave him ALONE!" she screeched.

Peter, in a rage, brushed her off and began beating her with the wooden end of his bull-hook.

Sudesh gave a frightened trumpet and ducked behind his mother, and Amber tried to cover her

face with her hands.

"Stop it!" she begged. "Stop, please!"

"You stupid little bitch!" Peter snarled. "You dumb whore!"

Suddenly the blows were gone and Amber chanced a peek. Her arms were ripped away from her

face and Peter hit her once across the face with his bare hand. There was a scratch on his hand

that was bleeding profusely, and a bruise forming on his face from where her fist had hit him

when she had jumped him.

He hit her again in the face. "You love them so much, huh? Ready to sacrifice yourself for them?"

he roared. He stepped away from her and pulled a gun out from his pocket that Amber hadn't

been aware that he had had.

"Keep your eyes open, bitch," he told her before pointing the gun first at her, and then the

matriarch of the herd.

"Wait- WAIT!" Amber screamed. "No, Peter don't, please! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please don't

hurt them!"

Peter pulled the trigger and a bullet flew towards the matriarch. It didn't kill her, but wounded

her, and her shrill trumpets broke Amber's ear drums. The other elephants went into alarm and

began thundering around and their terrified cries joined the matriarch's. Peter aimed for the

eldest elephant again and this time she stopped moving and fell to the floor, taking a teenage

elephant with her.

"NO!" Amber screamed. She tackled Peter, who was caught off guard, and they toppled to the

ground.

Amber beat him as hard as she could, her small fists hitting any place that she could, all the

while she could feel tears threatening to boil over.

"You asshole, do you know what you've done? Do you have ANY IDEA? How could you, how

COULD YOU? I hope you burn in hell, you bastard!" Amber cried.

Peter swung up his arm that held the bull-hook and successfully knocked her off of him. He

straddled her then, peering furiously at her from one swollen eye. Amber struggled relentlessly

beneath him and he wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth with a wince.

"You're going to pay for that, you ungrateful bitch," he said quietly. He then moved his hands

and grabbed some spare rope that lie beside them near the elephant enclosure. In the

background Amber could hear the elephants' continued shrieks, and she could see the teenage

elephant struggle under their dead leader in an effort to stand.

Peter bound Amber's hands together and when he was sure they were tied securely, he laid his

gun and bull-hook to his right and ripped open Amber's circus costume easily. She stared at him,

wide eyed, disbelieving about what he was going to do.

He chuckled without humor. "I'm not going to rape you, insolent whore. But, since you love our

big friends over here so much, I figured I'd give you a little…..reminder of them, to carry with you

always."

He brushed her hair aside from her collar bone, pausing long enough to sniff her hair deeply. He

smirked. "Mmmm, strawberry," he crooned. Amber shivered.

Peter reached beside him and grabbed the bull-hook and pointed it's sharp end at her.

"This is going to hurt….just…a….little," Peter warned her with a malicious smirk, punctuating his

last words by pressing the bull-hook into her chest till blood began to drip slowly.

Amber shut her eyes, trying to endure the pain as best as she could. She howled as the blade

sunk deeper and then began to move. Peter's hand was relatively steady and Amber didn't move

for fear that he would do something worse to her if she caused him to mess up his "artwork". It

was agonizing to feel the blade moving through her skin, deep enough to start a river of blood to

run down her chest. She began to feel dizzy, but knew she couldn't lose consciousness. She

needed to be able to protect the remaining elephants, especially Sudesh. She couldn't let Peter

get the best of her.

He finally ended it, his hands covered in blood. _Her_ blood. But he wasn't done. Amber moaned as

Peter clambered off of her, chuckling to himself.

"You look so helpless….so beautifully helpless," he told her in a pensive tone, as if he were

recalling a dream rather than cutting her spirit away. She looked up at him through watery eyes

and a few tears leaked out of the corners of her lids.

"Go to hell," she told him.

This angered him further and he pointed his gun at her again. But he hesitated. His eyes darted

to the tent's opening, his eyes narrowing as he saw someone come through the tent's opening.

Nathaniel's eyes went wide as he took in Amber, lying on the floor, covered in blood with her

dress ripped open to reveal her ghastly collarbone where the outline of an elephant had been

carved.

"Peter," Nathaniel gasped, "what have you done?"

Peter shrugged. "Leave, Nathaniel. _Elefanti_ and I are having a discussion."

When Nathaniel did not move, Peter grew angry yet again.

"I said leave, Nathaniel!" he shouted. "Or do you wish to witness this?"

Peter pointed his gun at the elephants and began firing at random. Their frenzied trumpets filled

the air, and Amber managed to picker herself up, her head light from loss of blood, and grabbed

the bat. She swung at Peter, but had little strength in her swing. It hit him in the shoulder, but

he quickly grasped it and beat her face.

The pain was terrible, and Amber turned her face so that he only hit her right side and

something in her face snapped. The beating took only a few seconds before Nathaniel had pulled

Peter off of his friend and threw him away. Amber had time to only see Peter point his gun again,

and heard the shots before she blacked out.

She woke later to find gentle, shaking hands lifting her face and Victoria's face swam before her

vision.

"Amber," Victoria whispered, tears choking her voice. "Amber, we're going to get you to the

hospital. W-who did this to you?"

She lifted her head, feeling dizzy and nauseous. Amber looked past Victoria, and saw several

large heaps of grey skin, lying, unmoving, on the ground.

"Wait-," Amber began, "where are they? The elephants, where are they?"

"That can wait till later," Victoria tried, but Amber interrupted her.

"Tell me what happened!" she demanded.

"The elephants….the remaining elephants, were taken by Petrofsky. The police couldn't get to

them in time since they were getting the other animals and controlling the audience… They fell

into a frenzy after the police arrived, and they wouldn't stop screaming… I'm so sorry, Amber. I'm

so, so sorry…."

Amber laid her head back on the ground. All she had done had been for nothing. She didn't

know what had happened to Nathaniel, or Peter, but at that moment all she wanted to do was

sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Like Sheep

Chapter Five

"You know, life fractures all of us into little pieces. It harms us, but it's how we glue those fractures back together that makes us stronger." - Carrie Jones

3 Days Later

Amber's head hurt, as if someone had put a nail between her eyes. She lay in a foreign bed, with

no memory of where she was; she stayed still with her eyes closed, having awoken but unable to

open them. They were heavy, and felt swollen. She felt a cloth over her right eye.

Without opening her eyes, and without moving, she began to sense her surroundings. Under her

fingertips she could feel smooth sheets; they smelled clean, and like rubbing alcohol. The bed

under her was a little stiff and cold, as if she had just recently been placed there. It took her a

moment to realize that she was cold: her skin was as frigid as ice.

Amber concentrated on feeling her skin. She breathed in slowly through her nose, wincing at the

sudden stab of pain between her eyes, and focused on just feeling. She became aware of needles

in her arms, and something heavy against her left leg.

Finally, _finally,_ Amber struggled to open her eyes. Through her left eye she took in a sterile, neat

hospital room, with some heart-shaped "Get-Well-Soon!" balloons floating in the corner across

from the door.

Amber's memory was fuzzy, at best. She couldn't remember how she had gotten to the hospital,

or where she was. And she wasn't in pain, although…..she couldn't figure out how she knew she

was supposed to be in pain. The eye covering began to itch.

As she moved to touch the bandage over her eye, a warm hand covered her own.

"You need to leave it, sweetie," a voice murmured gently.

"Victoria?" Amber croaked. Her voice was raspy from disuse.

"Yeah, I'm here," Victoria confirmed, giving Amber's hand a firm squeeze.

"Where am I?" Amber groaned. "What time is it?"

Victoria moved around to where Amber could see her clearly, bringing her wheeled-chair around

with her.

"You're in Gotham General," her pink-haired friend said quietly. "You've been here for a while."

"How long?"

Victoria hesitated, but then answered, "About three days. You slept most of the time, and you

were given some heavy-duty pain killers….Do you remember anything?"

Amber was floored by shock_. Three days?_ She'd been in the hospital for _three days?_ Her mother

must be furious. During her undercover operation, Amber had been staying at a friend's

apartment while he was out of town trying a court case in California, and had managed to call

her mother every other day to check in. If she had been out of sorts for _three whole days…._ She

didn't even want to think about that.

"Amber?" Victoria questioned.

"Hu-what?"

"Can you remember anything? Anything at all? The doctors were afraid you would have acute

memory loss from the trauma to your head."

"Trauma?" Amber said slowly. "What trauma?"

Victoria's face fell. "You don't remember then?"

"Remember _what?_" Amber snapped. "How the hell did I get here anyway? _Why_ am I here?"

The other girl took a deep breath. "Try to remember. Do you remember working at the circus?"

Amber nodded, irritation plain in her only visible eye.

"Okay, think back to a few days ago….You got a text message from Max. Do you remember the

test message?"

Amber fought to recall what it had said. She was silent for a few minutes, thinking hard, and

finally she remembered losing her phone….and being happy that the operation was almost over….

"It said that you guys would be coming on Wednesday," Amber recounted. "Right?"

"Yes, that's good. Try to remember what happened on Wednesday," Victoria encouraged.

The blonde once again lapsed into silence. She stared at the get-well balloons and studied the

patterns of colors on them. The sounds from the hospital hallways outside leaked into her ears,

filling them with noise.

She remembered….Screaming….but that wasn't it. She was missing something, something

important that came before then.

Her eye shifted to looking out through the blinds into the hallway. She saw nurses and doctors

scrambling to and fro; saw some of them laughing, others carrying clipboards or assisting

patients back to their rooms. Victoria waited patiently, with a sad expression on her face, for

Amber to say something.

The blonde shut her eyes, her eyebrows scrunching together despite her migraine, and fought to

remember. She recalled letting Victoria and the others in through the gate; how they had

requested a megaphone; Peter catching Victoria with Amber-

_Peter_.

"Peter," Amber said doubtfully. "I remember Peter….."

"What was Peter doing?" Victoria whispered.

Amber was perplexed. "He….you put your arm around me…. He thought we were dating."

Victoria deflated. "What happened next?" she sighed. She had a strange feeling forming within

her: it was like hope that Amber wouldn't remember what had transpired, but also grim

realization that she _had_ to remember….and then despair when Victoria came to the conclusion

that, just as she had failed to protect her best friend from that _monster,_ Peter, she was also unable

to save her from the truth.

Amber frowned. "You were in the big top, with the megaphone….Nathaniel was there-,"

"Nathaniel?" Victoria asked sharply.

"Yeah, why?"

Victoria stood and walked to the corner with the balloons. She grabbed one of the strings and

yanked a balloon forward, which had been in the back of the cluster. It had daisies printed upon

its surface, and firework-like explosions. A note was attached to it. Victoria got the note and

gave it to Amber with a trembling hand.  
><em><br>El,_ the note read,

_I'm sorry. And I'm sorry about the daisies too. You always said you hated them, but it was all I could find at short _

_notice. I am so sorry. Please forgive me._

_Nathaniel_

After Amber had read the note aloud to Victoria, her friend asked, "Why do you hate daisies?"

Amber shrugged. "I just…do. When I was a kid, my grandma grew daisies in her garden and

would work on them for hours. She was an avid gardener." Amber rolled her eye. "I just never

found them pretty. I liked roses, and one day I bought a yellow rose and planted it beside her

daisies. The next day I came out to water it and it had been ripped out of the ground and thrown

in a pile of grass clippings. I asked my grandmother about it and she said that she didn't want

roses taking up her daisies' "root room". Ever since then I've despised daisies."

Victoria was quiet as Amber reread the note to herself. Her frown from before returned, and

deepened.

"What is he apologizing for?" Amber asked incredulously.

"The same thing I'm apologizing for," Victoria whispered with tears forming in her dark brown

eyes. "I didn't protect you, like I said I would. I promised Max you would be okay, that nothing

was going to happen to you….and I was wrong."

Now Amber was confused. "What are you talking about? What do mean you didn't protect me?

Protect me from _what?_"

Victoria let out a sob, but quickly gained control over herself. Amber stared at her, horrified: she

hated seeing people cry. It made her uncomfortable.

"You _still_ don't remember? Don't you remember how you got _this-_," Victoria motioned to

Amber's eye, "or _that_ _horrid thing_ on your chest?"

"My-my chest…?" Amber murmured. She reached a hand up to pull the fabric of the hospital's

nightshirt down, her left eye searching for any type of blemish on her chest. She was confronted

with a pristine white bandage on the left side of her breasts, just below her collarbone.

"What the hell?" Amber said.

Victoria moved back to her seat, taking Amber's pale, cold hand back into her own. "Amber,

please," she pleaded tearfully, "_please_ try to remember."

A sick feeling swept through the blonde. "I'm not going to like it, am I? The thing that happened

to me?"

Victoria licked her lips and gave her a hopeless smile that turned out looking like a grimace. "No,

sweetie. You're not."

At that moment, the door opened and a woman poked her head in. She had dark hair and a dark

complexion, of obvious Hispanic descent.

"Miss Riley? May I ask you a few questions concerning the events of Wednesday night?"

"Who are you?" Victoria demanded.

"My name is Detective Anna Ramirez with Gotham PD."

"How did you even know she was awake?"

The detective offered a brief smile and came a little farther into the hospital room. "I've been out

here a while. I came by to visit my mother and thought I'd check in again to see how you were

doing."

"Well you wasted your time," Victoria said icily. "She doesn't remember what happened."

"I can wait," Ramirez said calmly, unfazed by the pink-haired girl's hostility.

"I'd rather you didn't," Victoria snarled. "She's under enough stress from trying to remember

what happened, and she doesn't need to be harassed by your questions. So please leave."

Ramirez looked from Victoria to Amber. "I'll be right outside when you decide you want to talk

about it," she said gently. "I understand it's very hard for you, so, please, take your time."

Victoria glared at her as she turned to leave. "Don't hold your breath!" she called after the

detective.

"What's your deal?" Amber asked wearily.

Victoria shrugged and turned intense, kind eyes on Amber again.

Amber accepted that she wasn't going to get an answer and concentrated once more on

remembering what had happened to her.

"You had just seen Nathaniel in the big top," Victoria offered gently. Amber nodded.

She remembered walking….she had to get her stuff before all hell broke loose…. She retrieved her

bag, but instead of joining the other animal rights' activists, she headed further into the heart of

the circus. She had wanted to see the elephants before she left. She entered the elephants' tent-

"Oh god," Amber whispered. Tears began to fill her eyes, wetting the bandage over her right eye.

"_Oh god,_" she repeated.

Victoria closed her eyes in grim anguish and leaned her head back. Amber remembered now.

And even though Victoria knew that it was crucial for her to remember, she still felt responsible

for the burden her friend now had to bear.

Tears began to silently stream down Amber's face, and her eye bandage soon became damp. She

reached a hand up to touch her right eye, sobs shaking her shoulders as she tried to quell them.

She _remembered_ now: she _remembered_ the screams of the elephants, and the screams of the

people outside when cops had stormed the circus; she _remembered_ Sudesh getting struck in the

face; she _remembered_ Nathaniel trying to protect her by throwing Peter off of her….She

remembered _everything_.

}~*~{

Detective Ramirez settled herself on Victoria's vacated chair, looking around the room and

finding it empty of the pink-haired girl. Amber sat up in her bed, supported by numerous

pillows, with her gaze aimed straight ahead. She did not acknowledge the detective since she

had entered the room, her eyes trained instead on the white wall ahead of her.

"Where's your friend?" Ramirez asked in a friendly manner in an attempt to break the ice.

"I sent her away," was the low reply. It came in a detached tone.

"Oh," was all the detective could say. She shifted in her seat, hating that she had to make this

poor girl relive her grief once again.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she told the blonde gently.

"Thank you," Amber said mechanically. Her voice was a monotone that showed no emotion.

Ramirez thought it seemed like the girl was still in shock.

"What is your name and age?" she asked, beginning her routine questioning.

"Amber America Riley, age twenty."

"You're still very young," Ramirez commented. "You recently graduated college?"

"Community, yes."

"Are you planning on going back to school?"

Amber, startled, looked at her finally. "What?"

"I mean, do you plan on going to a four year college? Finish your education?"

"I….start in three weeks."

"Oh okay," Ramirez smiled. "You have something to look forward to then."

Amber was silent.

A heavy feeling came over the detective. "I've already been briefed on what you were doing at

Petrofsky's Wonder Circus by your superior, Max. I think it's very brave what you did."

Her answer was more silence. Amber by then had returned to staring at the wall.

"I have a, uh, list here," the detective began, unfolding a piece of paper, "of some of the animals

that were killed on Wednesday-,"

"You mean the elephants."

Ramirez looked up quickly. "Yes."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Animal trafficking is big in Gotham, and we're trying to stop it-,"

"You're busy trying to find the Joker."

"But…." Ramirez took a deep breath. "_I, _at least, am still committed to stopping it, and I could use

your help."

She took Amber's silence to be her consent and hurriedly pushed forward. "I have, uh, another

list of some elephants that were reported as having been smuggled into the country," she said as

she dug around in her bag. "I only have the names of the elephants from Petrofsky's, not their

ages, so I was hoping I would run the names and descriptions by you and we could cross

reference these sources and come up with an accurate, final list. Max said that you, uh, worked

with the elephants, so…."

Amber gave a short nod and Ramirez began to read:

"Specimen One, by name of Bella-,"

"That was the matriarch's second daughter," Amber interrupted. "She was the mother of

Sudesh."

"The baby boy?"

"Yes."

Ramirez grew uncomfortable. "Specimen One, name Bella….deceased."

Amber's head whipped around to look at her. "She's dead?"

The detective nodded. "Bullet between the eyes was the end of her. Her death was quick, if that's

any consolation."

Silence.

"Specimen Two, name of Jennifer-,"

"That's the newest elephant, brought from a different herd in Thailand."

Ramirez was shocked. "How do you know it was Thailand specifically?"

"When she arrived she was wearing a type of collar that a specific elephant reserve in Thailand

puts on its elephants. She was stolen from the reserve and then brought here."

"Okay then," the detective murmured as she crossed the name off the list.

"Is she alive?"

"She made it, yes. She had a flesh wound on her left front leg, but she should recover just fine."

And so it went: Detective Ramirez ran through the list of elephants, making comments here and

there. For the most part, not many elephants had died. Amber had to repress a sob when the

matriarch of the herd came up; but her real anxiety came at the end of the list.

"Specimen Fifteen, Sudesh, deceased."

"What?" Amber demanded.

Ramirez looked upset, and apologetic. "I'm afraid the baby was shot. There was nothing that

could have been done to save him. I'm so, so sorry."

At that moment, something changed in Amber. It was slow at first, like the changing of the tide.

She grew enraged, and yet coldly calm. Her heartbeat accelerated dramatically to the point that

the heart monitors began screeching and nurses ran in to stabilize her. Detective Ramirez left at

the insistence of the nurses, but left her calling card on the table by the door.

As Ramirez walked away from the hospital room, her heart felt heavy. Her own eyes began to

prick and tingle with tears, but she hurriedly brushed them away.

"Poor kid," she murmured and stepped into the fading light of the sun.


	6. Chapter 6

Like Sheep

A/N: Okay guys, I know you all want to kill me for not posting (and if any of my loyal readers from the "No Such Thing" HP series are here and are going WTF? please listen to this), but in reality you have my grandmother to thank for this. She's asked my mom and I to move out of her house and shut off her internet, so I wasn't able to post this chapter. Admittedly, it still took forever to write because I was so unmotivated, but here it is. I'm going to California for a few days (where there should be internet access, thank god) so hopefully I'll be able to finish the next chap and post it. And also, I'm really sorry that these next two chapters (in my opinion) are basically going to suck, but they're basically transitions to where Phanti really gets pissed and starts blowing stuff up. Literally.

Chapter Six

"Anything good, Alfred?" Bruce yawned as he made his way into the penthouse's kitchen. His

butler had already laid his breakfast out and was currently reading the newspaper.

"Nothing of interest yet, Master Wayne- Oh here's something, sir, some sort of panic at Mr.

Petrofsky's Wonder Circus."

"Hmmm?" Bruce hummed as he poured himself some coffee.

"It says here that there was a mass shooting of the animals at the circus, and a young woman was

attacked in an attempt to stop the shooter."

"Name?"

Alfred looked up. "Of the young miss or the shooter?"

"Both," the other man replied.

"The newspaper doesn't list either of the names. I would _assume_, Master Wayne, that they're

trying to keep the incident quiet."

"They're doing a hell of a good job by not releasing names to the public. And we all know that

people won't stop going to Petrofsky's just because someone was attacked. It's the first circus

Gotham has had in years," Bruce sighed as he took a seat across from his butler. "It excites

people."

"You don't agree with the circus, sir?"

"It's not that. Petrofsky just has a reputation for being less than friendly with his animals."

Alfred put the newspaper down and looked his employer in the eye. "Would I be wrong in

assuming that Batman is going to look into this?"

Bruce scowled ruefully. "You know I can't right now, Alfred. My main priority is getting the

Joker behind bars."

Alfred rose from the table with a sigh. "Don't let other crimes of Gotham go unnoticed, sir, in an

attempt to win a war."

The younger man's scowl deepened. He took a sip of his coffee and was quiet, during which

Alfred began preparing some eggs and toast. Bruce reached for the newspaper and opened it to

the page Alfred had been reading about Petrofsky's Wonder Circus.

Ms. Craft set down her coffee cup angrily, glaring across the small kitchen table at Amber's

mother.

"You need to do something about _her,_" she snarled. "By God's witness, all she ever does is study

and sit up in her room. _Doing nothing._ It's unhealthy, and quite frankly, it's wearing on my nerves."

Carol-Lyn lowered her own coffee cup slowly, looking up at Ms. Craft with docile eyes. "She's

been under a lot of stress lately, mother. She'll come around when she's ready."

The professor's eyes flashed. "And how long are you willing to wait, exactly? Certainly you seem

to be indifferent about the whole thing, while I'm trying to _fix it._"

The mood suddenly became chilly in Carol-Lyn's small living room/dinette combo. Her own

green eyes narrowed at Ms. Craft and she pushed a stray strand of light brown hair out of her

round face.

"She's my daughter, and I will do what I deem necessary. She doesn't need some sort of

intervention, mother."

"Obviously not to you," Ms. Craft huffed. She stood up abruptly, smoothing her white blouse

and her tacky business skirt hurriedly. "I've arranged for Amber to talk to one of my colleagues."

Carol-Lyn's eyes narrowed. "What kind of colleague, mother?"

"She has a degree in psychiatry if that's what you're asking. It's time for Amber to stop moping

around after getting dumped by some loser."

"She told you that?" Carol-Lyn asked incredulously.

"What else could it be? She doesn't have good taste in men- runs in the family in my opinion,"

Ms. Craft sniffed.

Carol-Lyn's face turned white with anger at her mother's implication.

"Keep in touch," the elderly woman said shortly before exiting the small apartment, slamming

the door behind her. Tears of rage slowly rolled down Carol-Lyn's cheeks as she took a sip of her

now-cold coffee.

Amber lay in her bed in her room upstairs, hiding beneath her covers. Her mismatched eyes were

open wide but without any life to them as she remained perfectly still. The thin walls of the

apartment provided no privacy, and she had heard every word her _beloved _grandmother had said.

She couldn't bring herself to care, however, and remained completely numb. She didn't even

flinch when she heard her mother drop her cup accidently and the delicate porcelain split into a

million pieces.  
><em><br>Maybe that's what happened to me,_ she pondered absently_. Maybe Peter broke me into a million pieces and I _

_don't know how to put myself back together._

She closed her mismatched eyes and went back to sleep, which was all she ever did anymore.

_Screaming. It was happening….again. Amber looked around herself wildly, unable to wake from her nightmare. She _

_could see the elephants rearing onto their hind legs in alarm, and she saw the immobile body of a fallen elephant at _

_their feet. She jumped when she heard the first of the string of gunshots to ring in the air and then rocket toward the _

_remaining elephants. She covered her eyes, but she could still hear their screams._

_Somehow, she was on the ground, sobbing. She looked up momentarily and saw herself lying a few feet away, _

_wearing the circus dress and bloody and bruised._

_Peter appeared beside Amber and knelt beside her, brushing her hair behind her ear almost lovingly. Amber _

_shivered and tore her eyes away from her dream-self. She shut her eyes. But even still she could hear his next words:_

_"I'm not a monster," Peter murmured genially. "I just have an affinity for the theatrical."_

Amber woke, drenched in cold sweat with her eyes heavy and her cheeks wet from sobbing in

her sleep. She felt oddly calm. Not numb, but…serene. She stood from her bed and went to look

at herself in the mirror. Her hair was slightly longer, and wavier, and her skin was like snow.

Her mismatched eyes stared tauntingly back at her, as if they were a constant reminder of her

ordeal.

As if in a trance, Amber picked up her brush and began to comb slowly through her blonde

locks. She stayed like that for a while; after an immeasurable amount of time, Amber began to

slowly strip herself of her sweatpants and baggy shirt, which had begun to smell. She hardly ever

got out of bed anymore, so she often went without changing her clothes. This was another thing

that never failed to annoy her grandmother.

She pulled on her favorite pair of hemp pants and found them to be two sizes too big. Amber

frowned: she had been thin to begin with, and now it was apparent she had lost even more

weight. She searched for her cropped hot pink tank top and pulled her long blonde hair into a

ponytail, releasing her round face from its confines of the past few weeks.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Amber's mother poked her head in warily. Her eyes

widened drastically when she saw her daughter out of bed and dressed. Amber gazed back at

her calmly, one eyebrow cocked.

"You're…you're up," Carol-Lyn stuttered.

"Yes," Amber answered simply.

"Are you, um, feeling alright?"

"Never better." A pause. "I'm going for a walk," Amber said and headed past her mother,

grabbing her coat (which had a fine collection of dust on it from disuse).

"W-where?" Carol-Lyn demanded, her voice high. How could Amber be acting so normal, as if

the past few weeks hadn't happened? Granted, Carol-Lyn didn't know the details of her

daughter's withdrawl but she had certainly suffered the side effects.

"Around the city," Amber called over her shoulder as she continued her path to the front door.

"Amber!" Carol-Lyn yelled, beseeching. Amber paused and turned her head slightly to the right

to show her mother she was listening. Her small fist clutched something tightly.

"Please….be careful," Carol-Lyn begged.

"I will."

And with that, Amber was gone. 


	7. Chapter 7

Like Sheep

Chapter Seven

The streets weren't very crowded at that time of day, since the average workday had not yet

ended. Amber strolled along at her leisure, her long blonde hair falling gently around her

shoulders. The few people on the streets bustled past her without giving her or her strange eyes

a second look. She uncurled her fist and revealed the eye patch her mother had used after

acquiring eye surgery when she had gotten into a car accident. Ducking into a side alley, Amber

quickly put the eye patch over her completely black eye and tied the string. As she was about to

leave she heard a noise further into the alley. She frowned and followed the noise.

As Amber went further into the alley she discovered that it had obviously been a sanctuary for

homeless people at one point in time but was now mostly abandoned. She continued onward,

but then stopped short. In front of her lay a still body, with a dark pool of blood around it.

Before Amber had time to react, she was suddenly spun around to face a gnarled, dirty face.

The man it belonged to was dressed in shabby, torn clothes that were covered in dirt and grime.

He appeared to be homeless as well.

"What are you doing back here?" he demanded.

She couldn't find an answer.

He studied her for a moment and then moved away. "I didn't do anything wrong," he told her.

"What?" she choked out in disbelief.

The man motioned to the dead body. "I didn't do anything wrong, 'bout him," he repeated.

Amber quickly evaluated the man: he looked homeless himself, and as if he had been for years.

"Why did you kill him?" she asked him finally.

"He had it comin'," the man said gruffly. "An eye for an eye."

The man was staring at her. "Why aren't you ruinnin' like any other person would? Aren't you

going to scream for help? You're with a murderer you know."

Amber didn't move. "What'd he do?"

"He's the reason my sister's dead. I thought I'd repay the favor."

She was silent. Her eyes darted to the dead body on the floor.

The man sat on a couch across from Amber and looked at her thoughtfully. There was a deep

silence between them, one that could not even be penetrated by the traffic on the street, for a

few moments. Amber wasn't sure why she, like the man said, wasn't running for help, but

instead stood staring calmly at a murderer and his victim.

Finally, the man said, "You know, you kind of remind me of my sister."

Amber took a startled step backward.

"You look a little bit like 'er." He pointed to the crates next to Amber. "Have a seat, miss."

Amber did as she was told.

The man stared off into the distance. "I wasn't always homeless, you know. I had a good life. My

parents weren't rich or anything, but we wasn't poor neither. I wanted to grow up to be a DA, I

did…But I got that out of my head real quick."

"What happened?" Amber asked quietly.

He looked her in the eye, as if contemplating whether he should share something with her. "You

listen to me: if there's one thing that separates humans from animals is our aptitude for revenge

and justice. And in some cases those two are the same."

"I-I don't understand-,"

"The world is cruel. There's no right or wrong in it anymore, especially in Gotham nowadays.

The only good people this city has seen in years was those Wayne people- the doctor and his

wife. And look what 'appened to them, miss: they got shot in some alley, just like that bastard

not ten feet from you."

"Why are you telling me this?" Amber asked quietly.

He looked at her. "'Cause I know who you are. You're that girl from the papers."

"What girl?" she asked, but her heart was pounding and her blue eye dilated with anxiety.

"The one at the circus. I know you're that girl." The homeless man's eyes are gentle. "That's why I

know you understand."

She stood up. "You're wrong. I don't understand at all."

"Oh come on now, that's just plain horse shit." He was up and in her face before Amber had time

to blink. She stayed before him, frozen.

"You think what 'appened to you is okay?" he snorted.

She was angry. "No I don't."

"Then why the 'ell are you standing there telling me you don't understand what I just did?" he

demanded. "You'd do the same in an instant- I can see that in your _eye._" He leaned even closer;

she tried to recoil but she had nowhere to go. "Get angry, miss. Why ain't you out there beating

him like he beat you? You're letting him get away with near-murder."

Amber swallowed. "The police-,"

"HA! The police? Miss, I dunno what you've been smokin' to dull the pain, but the police in this

city are about as useful as a toy gun. They don't do shit. Tell me, miss, has they arrested the guy

who attacked you?"

Her silence was confirmation enough.

Suddenly Amber felt cold metal against her hand. She looked down and saw with shock that the

man had pressed his gun into her hand.

She swallowed again. "Are you telling me to commit murder?"

He smiled. "No, miss. I'm telling you to get justice."

Amber was about to say something to him, but they could hear sirens approaching. A wide blue

eye searched wild green ones.

"I called the police," the man said simply. "You might want to leave now, miss." And with that,

he turned and began trotting in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" Amber called. "Aren't you going to stay?"

"And get arrested for serving justice? I don't think so, miss!" he called over his shoulder. Then he

paused and turned around to fully look at her. "I'm not ashamed of what I did, but that don't

mean I'm going to go to jail. Now hurry: if they sees you, you'll get thrown in the slammer. I

couldn't stand it if you get arrested for something I did, miss. Hurry!"

By the sound of the voices and footsteps getting louder, Amber could tell the police officers were

getting closer. Like a scared rabbit, she ran off in a random direction, but not before a policeman

saw her.

"HEY! YOU! STOP!" he yelled.

She ran even faster, not oblivious to the fact that she was being followed. She ducked into an

adjoining side alley that smelled even worse than the one she had been in before and pools of a

grimy, liquid substance were everywhere. It was in one of these puddles that Amber stepped in

and felt herself sliding painfully forward. With a small scream she fell and attempted to brace

herself with her hands.

She lay on the ground for a few moments before she heard behind her the sound of guns clicking

into place and labored breathing.

"Fuck," she whimpered, attempting to bury her face into her hands.

"This is so wrong," Amber said. Again.

"No, what's wrong is you shooting a guy and then running from the police," a cop called to her.

He sounded annoyed.

"I didn't shoot him," Amber argued.

The cop merely rolled his eyes and went back to his card game. The blonde sat alone in the

holding cell of the Gotham Police Department, watching the policemen file paperwork and chat

around the water cooler. Someone had taken her eye patch from her so she merely stayed still

and kept her black eye closed while the other stared out of her gaunt face.

The door leading into the PD opened again and a familiar face strolled in, a box of doughnuts

balanced on her hand. Amber's heart began to thud painfully.

" 'Bout time, Ramirez!" a few of the cops shouted at the incoming detective.

"Quit your whining," she told them playfully.

Amber watched her warily through her one eye, peering at the box. Her stomach rumbled: she

realized she hadn't eaten since….when exactly? Yesterday morning? The night before?

"Who's in the cage?" Ramirez asked absently as she dished out doughnuts to the swarm that

surrounded her.

"Eh, some girl named Amber Smith. Caught her in an alley running away from a dead body with

the gun in her po-,"

"Smith? Amber Smith?" Ramirez screeched. All talking ceased around her.

"Yeah, why?" the same cop asked, confused.

"You idiot," the woman snarled, pushing through the crowd over to the cage. When she caught

sight of Amber sitting on the bench, staring at her silently, she slowed her walk. Amber never

took her eye off the detective as she retrieved the keys to the cage from a nearby desk. She

approached the door to the cell cautiously and unlocked it. Ramirez quickly stepped inside, not

bothering to shut the door behind her. Amber stayed immobile as the detective came toward her.

"Amber? Is that you?" Ramirez asked gently.

The blonde girl said nothing.

"What're you doing here? What happened?"

"They think I killed a man."

A cop decided to speak at that moment: "It was a good arrest, Ramirez. She had the murder

weapon in her possession."

"Is that true?" Ramirez inquired softly. Amber nodded once.

The detective turned to face the police officer. "Who was killed?"

"A homeless man: Eddie Jenkins. Was convicted of rape a few years back."

With that sentence, what the homeless man had said suddenly made sense: _"He's the reason my _

_sister's dead."  
><em>  
>Ramirez thought for a moment. "She didn't do it," she finally said.<p>

"What?" the officer roared. "How do you know?"

"Let's put it this way: Amber wouldn't be killing a homeless man. If she was going to kill anyone,

I know exactly who it'd be." She turned back to the blonde before her. She knelt between her

thighs. "Amber, do you know who did this? Did they give you the gun?"

Amber's gaze was icy. "I don't know who did it. I found the gun lying next to the body, and I

picked it up to turn it in," she lied. "The next thing I know, some cops are chasing after me."

Ramirez sighed and stood. "Let me get you out of here. You don't belong in this cage."

Just as the Hispanic detective was about to exit the holding cell, Amber called out: "Yeah, you're

right Ramirez…. There's someone who does, but you haven't caught him yet, have you?"

The detective froze and turned slowly. Her deep brown eyes rested on the fuming blonde.

"Peter," Amber mouthed. "And you won't catch him will you? 'Cause he's in the mob's pocket

and I'm just some faceless kid."

Ramirez swallowed. "Amber-," then she stopped. There was nothing that she could say.

Amber realized in that moment that the homeless man had been right. She needed to help herself

since everyone, even Ramirez, was useless. And she knew just how to do it.


	8. Chapter 8

Like Sheep

Chapter Eight

Detective Ramirez drove Amber quickly home, the tension between them so thick that one

could cut it with a knife. The blonde was refusing to look at the woman, instead gazing out the

window at the buildings that were blurred as they drove past. Her rage washed over her

continually; it did not ebb or grow, but was a constant emotion.

As they pulled up to Amber's apartment, Ramirez sighed and turned to face the angry girl.

"Amber. Look at me."

She did so reluctantly, a challenge plain in her mismatched eyes. The patch lay in her lap

between her two snow white, shaking hands.

"I'm sorry about what happened today," the detective continued. "But I wish you'd let me help

you! I don't expect you to bounce back to being the person you were before you were attacked,

and I'd like to help you deal with this and move on." Ramirez suddenly leaned forward and

clasped one of Amber's hands in her larger, warmer ones; Amber flinched. "_Please._ Just let me help

you."

Amber fought the urge to swallow and to keep the blush down that threatened to overtake her

neck.

"I don't need help," she finally said. "What I need is for your damn lapdogs to leave me the hell

_alone._" And with that she tore her hand away from the woman's grasp and propelled herself from

the passenger seat.

Bruce's eyes were glued to the TV when Alfred walked in, carrying a silver tray with the

brunette's tea upon it.

"Master Wayne," the butler said in an attempt to get the other's attention.

No response.

With a sigh, he put the tray down on the table and grabbed the remote from where it laid a few

feet away on the coffee table.

Alfred clicked off the TV, ignoring the unhappy groan from his employer on the couch.

"Alfred, I was watching that!" Bruce groused.

"And now you are not, Master Wayne," the butler said. Bruce pouted.

"I have a favor to ask you, Master Wayne, and I would like your attention for a few minutes."

The brunette sat up quickly, worry etched into his face. What could have happened for Alfred to

be asking Bruce a favor?

"What is it, Alfred?"

"I would like you to pursue that case with that girl from the papers. I think she'll be needing

your help."

"The Joker-,"

"That maniac can wait, sir. This girl cannot."

"What makes you think she's in danger, Alfred?" Bruce asked softly. "She could be fine. She

could have left the city and started over."

"I highly doubt that Master Wayne."

"Alfred-,"

"I never ask anything of you, Master Wayne. But I am now, because I really believe this girl

deserves someone telling her that she'll be okay."

There was silence between them for a few moments before Bruce finally sighed; he stood up.

"I'll look into it now," he said quietly and swept away


End file.
